Saturday, 28 July 2007

Nice day for a ride

Today, for a change, it hasn't been raining and the sun has been shining. The temparature has been hovering about 15C, which although on the cool side, is great for a bike ride. The view above is looking down the Calder valley towards Whalley with Longridge Fell and Kemple End in the distance.

I managed to double my usually weekly mileage in one fell swoop just by exploring routes round our neighbouring east Lancashire towns. From Whalley, via Great Harwood, through Clayton-le-Moors to Accrington (home of the famous Accrington Stanley and the historic Accrington Pals).

It struck me how unoriginal some of the street names are. Clayton Street in Clayton, Church Street in Church. I quite liked the play on words for a shop in Clayton - it was called Clayton l'Amour. Something else struck me as I passed through the urban landscape, how so many pubs are closed or for sale - a sign of the times. More of this in a future post.

From Church (west of Accrington), I picked up the Hyndburn Greenway, A track that provides access to the canal towards Rishton. Rather nice too. Fine views from here although the aqueduct over the M65 motorway was rather noisy. From Rishton, I took the Greenway towards Blackburn joining the canal path halfway before returning home. Oh, I forget to mention the reason for the trip. To buy a door. Who says shopping on a bike can't be fun?

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My commute: 2.5 miles through mixed urban residential, retail and light industry. Passing two traffic lights, a major intersection, a school crossing and two mini-roundabouts seeing things and people on the way...